The Good Life of Teaching: An Ethics of Professional Practice PDF
Preview The Good Life of Teaching: An Ethics of Professional Practice
The Good Life of Teaching TheJournalofPhilosophyofEducationBookSeries TheJournalofPhilosophyofEducationBookSeriespublishestitlesthatrepresentawidevariety ofphilosophicaltraditions.Theyvaryfromexaminationoffundamentalphilosophicalissues in their connection with education, to detailed critical engagement with current educational practiceorpolicyfromaphilosophicalpointofview.Booksinthisseriespromoterigorous thinking on educational matters and identify and criticise the ideological forces shaping education. Titlesintheseriesinclude: TheGoodLifeofTeaching:AnEthicsofProfessionalPractice ByChrisHiggins ReadingR.S.PetersToday:Analysis,Ethics,andtheAimsofEducation EditedbyStefaanE.CuypersandChristopherMartin TheFormationofReason ByDavidBakhurst WhatdoPhilosophersofEducationdo?(Andhowdotheydoit?) EditedbyClaudiaRuitenberg Evidence-BasedEducationPolicy:WhatEvidence?WhatBasis?WhosePolicy? EditedbyDavidBridges,PaulSmeyersandRichardSmith NewPhilosophiesofLearning EditedbyRuthCigmanandAndrewDavis TheCommonSchoolandtheComprehensiveIdeal:ADefencebyRichardPringwith ComplementaryEssays EditedbyMarkHalsteadandGrahamHaydon Philosophy,MethodologyandEducationalResearch EditedbyDavidBridgesandRichardDSmith PhilosophyoftheTeacher ByNigelTubbs ConformismandCritiqueinLiberalSociety EditedbyFriedaHeytingandChristopherWinch RetrievingNature:EducationforaPost-HumanistAge ByMichaelBonnett EducationandPractice:UpholdingtheIntegrityofTeachingandLearning EditedbyJosephDunneandPa´draigHogan EducatingHumanity:BildunginPostmodernity EditedbyLarsLøvlie,KlausPeterMortensenandSvenErikNordenbo TheEthicsofEducationalResearch EditedbyMichaelMcNameeandDavidBridges InDefenceofHighCulture EditedbyJohnGingellandEdBrandon EnquiriesattheInterface:PhilosophicalProblemsofOn-LineEducation EditedbyPaulStandishandNigelBlake TheLimitsofEducationalAssessment EditedbyAndrewDavis IllusoryFreedoms:Liberalism,EducationandtheMarket EditedbyRuthJonathan QualityandEducation EditedbyChristopherWinch The Good Life of Teaching An Ethics of Professional Practice Chris Higgins AJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.,Publication Thiseditionfirstpublished2011 OriginallypublishedasVolume44,Issues2and3ofTheJournalofPhilosophyofEducation Chaptersr2011TheAuthor Bookcompilationr2011PhilosophyofEducationSocietyofGreatBritain Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical businesstoformWiley-Blackwell. RegisteredOffice John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UnitedKingdom EditorialOffices 350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA 9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about howtoapplyforpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookpleaseseeourwebsite atwww.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Chris Higgins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordancewiththeUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublisher. Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsin printmaynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks. Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedastrademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.Thepublisherisnotassociated withanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook.Thispublicationisdesignedtoprovide accurateandauthoritativeinformationinregardtothesubjectmattercovered.Itissoldon the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professionalshouldbesought. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Higgins,Chris,1967– Thegoodlifeofteaching:anethicsofprofessionalpractice/ChrisHiggins. p.cm.—(Thejournalofphilosophyofeducationbookseries) ‘‘Originallypublishedasvolume44,issues2and3ofThejournalofphilosophyofeducation’’— T.p.verso. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-4443-3930-7(pbk.) 1.Teaching—Moralandethicalaspects.2.Education—Moralandethicalaspects.3.Teaching— Philosophy.4.Education—Philosophy.I.Title. LB1027.H4272011 371.102—dc23 2011023902 AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDFs (9781444346503); Wiley OnlineLibrary(9781444346534);ePub(9781444346510);Kindle(9781444346527). Setin9on11ptTimesbyMacmillanIndiaLtd. 012011 Contents ForewordbyRichardSmith vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: WhyWeNeed a Virtue Ethics of Teaching 1 Saintsandscoundrels 1 Abriefforteacherlyself-cultivation 2 Fromtheterrainofteachingtothedefinitionofprofessionalethics 9 Outlineoftheargument 10 PART I THE VIRTUESOFVOCATION: FROMMORAL PROFESSIONALISM TOPRACTICAL ETHICS 1 Work and Flourishing: Williams’ Critique of Morality and its Implications for ProfessionalEthics 21 RetrievingSocrates’question 22 Modernmoralmyopia 25 Whatdomoralagentswant? 31 Frommoralprofessionalismtoprofessionalethics 35 2 WorldsofPractice:MacIntyre’sChallengetoAppliedEthics 47 ThearchitectureofMacIntyre’smoraltheory 48 Acloserlookatinternalgoods 55 Thepracticalityofethicalreflection 61 Whatcountsasapractice:Theproof,thepudding,andtherecipe 63 Boundaryconditions:Practitioners,managers,interpreters,andfans 69 3 Labour,Work,andAction:Arendt’sPhenomenologyofPracticalLife 85 Arendt’ssingularproject 87 Definingthedeed 92 Hierarchyandinterdependenceinthevitaactiva 99 Praxisintheprofessions 101 4 AQuestionofExperience:DeweyandGadameronPracticalWisdom 111 Theconstantgardener 113 Theexistentialandaestheticdimensionsofvocation 119 Ourdominantvocation 125 Practicalwisdomandthecircleofexperience 130 Theopenquestion 134 PART II A VIRTUE ETHICSFOR TEACHERS: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS 5 TheHungerArtist:PedagogyandtheParadoxofSelf-Interest 145 Ablindspotintheeducationalimagination 145 Thehungerartist 154 Theveryideaofahelpingprofession 161 Thisripenessofself 170 6 WorkingConditions:ThePracticeofTeachingandtheInstitutionofSchool 177 Aprimafaciecaseforteachingasapractice 178 MacIntyre’sobjection 190 Schoolsassurroundings 198 7 TheClassroomDrama:TeachingasEndlessRehearsalandCulturalElaboration 205 Educationasthedramaofculturalrenewal 208 Afalselead 214 Teachingaslabour,work,andaction 217 Education,shelter,andmediation 223 Teachingasendlessrehearsal 227 Teachingasculturalelaboration 233 vi Contents 8 TeachingasExperience:TowardaHermeneuticsofTeachingandTeacher Education 241 Teachingasvocationalenvironment 241 Batchprocessing,kitschculture,andotherobstaclestoteachervocation 248 Thesyntaxofeducationalclaims 254 Theshapeofhumanisticconversation 258 Horizonsofeducationalinquiry 266 Teachereducationforpracticalwisdom 273 References 283 Index 305 Foreword There is a widespread intuition, not peculiar to our own time, that certain formsofworkaremorethanawayofearningawage:moreeventhanthose traditional and respectable ways of doing so that we have dignified with the name of ‘professions’. They seem unusually worthwhile and important, in a sensethatisdifficulttoarticulate.Intributetothismysterywemaysaythat we feel called to them, that we experience a sense of vocation. Something similar seems to lie behind the way that young people leaving college often talk about ‘wanting to make a difference’. An important part of this is captured by the term ‘generativity’, which the psychologist Erik Erikson coinedtodescribethenaturalurgetotakecareofothersandcontributetothe betterment of society. One profession or vocation which seems to ‘make a difference’ and to exhibit the features of generativity is of course that of the teacher. Ifwearetounderstandthegoodofteaching,then,weneedtounderstand notonlythewaysitcandirectlybenefitpupilsandstudentsbutalsothewayit can bring fulfilment for the teacher and so enhance the lives that he or she touches.Developingtheintuitionwithwhichwestarted,wecansaythatthis fulfilment is not of an arbitrary sort, as someone might happen to find fulfilment in collecting antique cars or gardening or all sorts of other activities.Thegoodofteachingliesinitsconnectionstothepersonalgrowth and development of the teacher, and to the more profound conceptions of human happiness and wellbeing that have been developed by philosophers sincethetimeofPlatoandAristotle.Itstandstobepartoftheanswertothe question, which Plato has Socrates ask in the Republic (352d6), of just how one ought to live a life. This connection with the nature of the good life explains the title of this book. Chris Higgins offers what he describes as a humane account of the moral psychology of teaching. The moral dimension has its origins in ClassicalGreekvirtueethics,andHigginsexploresandilluminatesitthrough arangeof20th-centurytexts,suchasthosebyJohnDewey,HannahArendt, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Hans-Georg Gadamer. From his discussion there emerges a sophisticated account of professional ethics, which other professions as well as the teaching profession are likely to find thought- provoking and helpful. Thebookisallthemoreimportantandtimelyasallaroundtheworld,and in the English-speaking world in particular, policy-makers and legislators TheGoodLifeofTeaching,FirstEdition.ChrisHiggins. r2011ChrisHiggins.Published2011byBlackwellPublishingLtd. viii Foreword mistake neo-liberal assumptions for common sense and think of teachers, whetheratschool,universityoranyotherlevel,basicallyasalabourforce:to be trained—if at all—and paid as cheaply as is consonant with securing competitive examination results. Their essential role is to manage their classes, to transmit knowledge and to deliver a predetermined curriculum in whosecontent and style theyare to have little or nosay. If theydemur, it is because they are part of a ‘producer culture’ defending its own interests. Anyone, however, who believes that there is more to teaching than this will find in The Good Life of Teaching rigorously analysed ideas with which to explore a vision of teaching that is richer for those who undertake it and therefore,ofcourse,morerewardingandfulfillingforthosewhomtheyteach. Richard Smith
Description:The list of books you might like
